Boechera
3160498
226142558
2008-07-17T00:34:56Z
IceCreamAntisocial
346507
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{{Taxobox
| name = ''Boechera''
| image = Boechera drummondii.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Boechera drummondii''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Brassicales]]
| familia = [[Brassicaceae]]
| genus = '''''Boechera'''''
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
See text.
}}
'''''Boechera''''' ('''rockcress''') is a [[genus]] of the family [[Brassicaceae]], subfamily [[Brassicoideae]]. It was named after the [[Denmark|Danish]] botanist [[Tyge W. Böcher]] (1909-1983), who was known for his research in alpine plants, including the mustard genus ''[[Draba]]''. According to recent molecular based studies ''Boechera'' is sister to the genus ''Arabidopsis'' which also includes the widely known model plant ''Arabidopsis thaliana''.
Until recently, members of this genus were included in the genus ''[[Arabis]]'', but have been separated from that genus based on recent [[genetics|genetic]] and cytological data. Unlike the genus Arabis (x=8) Boechera has a base chromosome number of x=7. Many taxa are triploid. ''Boechera'' is an exclusively North American genus, most diverse in the western [[United States]] but its distribution range also includes Greenland. The genus is poorly known, and species within are difficult to separate morphologically though some clearly distinct species are known.
Most members of the genus are [[perennial plant]]s with pubescent leaves with stellate [[trichomes]], narrow curving fruits, and small white to purple [[flower]]s in elongated [[raceme]]s. Relationships within the genus are unclear, and some eastern North American species, including ''Boechera laevigata'', may belong to a [[clade]] distinct from the rest of the genus.
A very interesting feature of the genus is [[asexual reproduction]], a process known as [[apomixis]].
;Selected species
*''[[Boechera crandallii]]'' (Crandall's Rockcress)
*''[[Boechera gunnisoniana]]'' (Gunnison's Rockcress)
*''[[Boechera holboellii]]'' (Holboell's Rockcress)
*''Boechera lignifera'' (Desert Rockcress)
*''Boechera oxylobula'' (Glenwood Springs Rockcress)
*''Boechera pallidifolia'' (Gunnison County Rockcress)
*''[[Boechera perennans]]'' (Perennial Rockcress)
*''Boechera pulchra'' (Beautiful Rockcress)
*''Boechera selbyi'' (Selby's Rockcress)
*''[[Boechera sparsiflora]]'' (Sicklepod Rockcress)
*''Boechera stricta'' (Drummond's Rockcress)
[[Category:Brassicaceae]]
{{Brassicales-stub}}
[[es:Boechera]]